Coming off a 7–2 blowout win against the Montreal Canadiens, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Canadiens faced each other in their fourth preseason game last night. The Leafs iced a veteran lineup, but the line combinations were all over the place.
Notably, Nicolas Roy and Max Domi, who have been dealing with injuries to start the year, drew in the lineup. Anthony Stolarz also made his preseason debut in the 4–2 loss. For the Leafs, I think last night’s game was about getting players into the flow of things as opposed to trying out legitimate lines. After all, it’s preseason.
Nonetheless, let’s take a look at the key takeaways from last night’s 4–2 loss.
Stolly the goalie
With Joseph Woll being on an indefinite leave of absence for a family-related matter, the Leafs signed former Leaf James Reimer to a PTO contract. Suffice to say, the goaltending position may be in a bit of flux.
Fortunately, Stolarz looked like he picked up from right where he left off before Sam Bennett hit him in the head in the playoffs. Stolarz had a decent game. He showed good rebound control, didn’t overplay in tight, and had to make several difficult saves with traffic in front. The Leafs’ defence did not make it easy for Stolarz.
A bit of a scary situation where Laurent Dauphin hit Stolarz in the head in the first period:
But Leafs fans can breathe a sigh of relief as Stolarz popped right back up, and it didn’t seem to affect him. I think we all remember former Canadiens’ captain Brian Gionta running James Reimer in 2011. Not saying there’s a conspiracy here, but it seems players like to target Leafs goalies a lot.
Overall, Stolarz played a solid two periods before Artur Akhtyamov took over for the third period. A healthy and dialled-in Stolarz is crucial if the Leafs want to have success this season. What we saw last night was encouraging, and perhaps the Leafs should extend Stolarz sooner, rather than later.
Toys that are no longer broken
Both Nicolas Roy and Max Domi missed the preseason thus far due to injuries, and both made their preseason debut last night. Roy played a line with Dakota Joshua and Matias Maccelli, and Roy looked as advertised. He showed good speed and was a battering ram all night. His line had several offensive opportunities, but couldn’t find the back of the net.
Roy showed a willingness to hold onto the puck in the offensive zone and patience to make a play. This is encouraging as the Leafs have sorely needed bottom-six players with an eye for offence.
Domi, on the other hand, is one of the players who is competing for the first-line winger spot, along with Matias Maccelli. He showed some chemistry with Matthew Knies, but overall, Domi was fairly quiet offensively.
His injury, nor the fact that it’s preseason, seemed to deter Domi from his agitator role. Notably, he took a penalty for interference against Lane Hutson. However, he baited Jayden Struble into taking an offsetting penalty. Throughout the night, he was chippy with the Canadiens players after whistles.
Historically, Domi has had bad season starts for the Leafs. In the 2023–24 season, he didn’t score in the first 21 games. Last year, Domi didn’t score in the first 22 games. If Domi wants to play on the first line, he’s going to have to start producing sooner rather than later. The Leafs cannot afford for him not to score until a quarter of the way through the season.
Toys looking to make impressions
Nicholas Robertson played on a line with Matthew Knies and Max Domi. This was a prime opportunity for Robertson to show Craig Berube and the coaching staff why he deserves a top-six role, rather than a bottom-six role, which he has played for the last several years.
While Robertson was held off the scoresheet, he did try to get pucks on net for rebounds. He maintained possession on the power play that led to John Tavares’ unassisted power play goal. While he didn’t look out of place, he wasn’t as dangerous as you would want. Time is running out for Robertson, but with two preseason games left, there is time.
While only playing one period, Akhtyamov made several acrobatic saves. Both Stolarz and Akhtyamov played well, and it’s hard to blame both goaltenders for the poor defensive effort.
Akhtyamov is competing with Dennis Hildeby for the third goaltender position on the Leafs and for starts on the Toronto Marlies. The 23-year-old has played well in his preseason games this year and will perhaps see some NHL time this season when injuries happen.
Onto the next
The Leafs play their next preseason game on Thursday against the Detroit Red Wings. As the Leafs enter their final two preseason games, I think we will start to see the “final exam” for some of the bubble players.
I would expect Easton Cowan to be given more looks in a more NHL-ready lineup to see what he can do. Other players like Joshua, Roy, and Maccelli are still building chemistry. I would like to see them perform on their probable lines in the last two games. Either way, real NHL action is almost upon us.
